High LDL and statins...

lexi · ‎03-14-2010

Doctor prescribed statins more than once. Cramps in legs made me stop statins. Latest test shows hdl 55....ldl 149 .....Doc is really pushing the statins again because I have some plaque. What would u do?

Tia.lexi

chessylady · ‎05-01-2010

What test did you take that shows you have plaque? 149 is not a vey high LDL. Have you had a heart attack or a stroke?

Jersey Born · ‎03-10-2010

What would I do? I would take one baby aspirin a day, take two garlic pills per day, drink one glass of red wine each evening, and go to see a metabolic specialist immediately.

It may not be the fat in your diet as much as the wheat/gluten/carbohydrates. Number two, an LDL cholesterol of 149 is indeed not very high.

If you cannot tolerate statins, and your doctor does not care that you cannot tolerate them, perhaps you should find another doctor, who does care.

All the best to you.

Teacups · ‎04-13-2010

On 2/24/2014 Jersey Born said:
What would I do? I would take one baby aspirin a day, take two garlic pills per day, drink one glass of red wine each evening, and go to see a metabolic specialist immediately.

It may not be the fat in your diet as much as the wheat/gluten/carbohydrates. Number two, an LDL cholesterol of 149 is indeed not very high.

If you cannot tolerate statins, and your doctor does not care that you cannot tolerate them, perhaps you should find another doctor, who does care.

All the best to you.

Plant sterols and niacin would help....Enzymatic Therapy Cholesterol Shield is what I use

makeup addict · ‎03-29-2010

What are your trigs? Your HDL is good. I have fibro and my doctor prescribed simvastatin. No problems.i have hereditary hight cholesterol and statin and Niaspan for my trigs are the only things that keep my cholesterol in line. I stopped for three months and did omega 3's. my Ldld went back uo to 300, trigs were elevated as well. Told him I thought fish oil would reduce it like the meds did. He told me omegas can't lower it effectively like the meds do. I went back on the meds and it stays in check. Ask your doctor about trying different statins. Also look into magnesium for leg cramps. I take Fibro Ease Multi which has malic acid and magnesium; no leg cramps from fibro. (They bothered me long before I started taking chol meds). It has provided wonderful relief to my leg cramps. If you have plaque, I would be hesitant of not taking a statin. If I were in your shoes, I would ask my doctor about trying different statins.

viva923 · ‎03-12-2010

I have been on Pravachol for many years, it has helped me tremendously. I can only take 20mg daily, I have tried more but cramps are to bad, so I just stick to the 20mg's daily.

Feline Fine · ‎06-28-2013

On 2/24/2014 makeup addict said: What are your trigs? Your HDL is good. I have fibro and my doctor prescribed simvastatin. No problems.i have hereditary hight cholesterol and statin and Niaspan for my trigs are the only things that keep my cholesterol in line. I stopped for three months and did omega 3's. my Ldld went back uo to 300, trigs were elevated as well. Told him I thought fish oil would reduce it like the meds did. He told me omegas can't lower it effectively like the meds do. I went back on the meds and it stays in check. Ask your doctor about trying different statins. Also look into magnesium for leg cramps. I take Fibro Ease Multi which has malic acid and magnesium; no leg cramps from fibro. (They bothered me long before I started taking chol meds). It has provided wonderful relief to my leg cramps. If you have plaque, I would be hesitant of not taking a statin. If I were in your shoes, I would ask my doctor about trying different statins.

Ditto on all three counts. I've been on it (Zocor) for years, with no issues that I know of. I've also had high blood pressure since I was 19 and my dad had a massive stroke at 47, so there's even more reason to keep my numbers in a decent range. Although I'm also very blessed with a longtime good HDL level.

I also take natural supplements everyday, as well as two low dose aspirin, but they can't get my numbers in line the way a statin can. It actually was my idea, and my cardiologist agreed.

Definitely check with your doc, though, especially a cardiologist who can do what's called the "VAP" blood test. It breaks your numbers into greater detail, which is very helpful.

willdob3 · ‎11-01-2010

You need to do some research. Seriously. Lots of it.

There is no reason for you to take a statin. No reason for most people to. The entire cholesterol is bad thing is based on a theory that was proven wrong. It was ignored because they decided the study must be wrong. But no study proved the theory.

High LDL is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, lowering it might keep it from fixing a problem.

Spend many, many hours researching. Here is a place to start:

The straight dope on cholesterol – Part I

bonnielu · ‎03-11-2010

Mine went in the trash. I had muscle problems and it raised my A1C which put me in the iffy diabetic category. I am now on something similar that does not seem to cause so much grief and harm..... Zetia it is called. Works for me.

Pook · ‎03-20-2010

I just don't get why doctors still keep pushing statins when probably only a very small percentage of those with high cholesterol actually have plaque buildup. Why don't they test for that first? Not one doctor I have been to has been able to answer that question and kept pushing the statins. I also found out that most health insurances don't cover the cost of this type of testing. How dumb is that. It could spare so many the awful side effects of statins and save many lives. At least 50% of those I know on statins became diabetic. Then they prescribe drugs for that that can and have caused strokes in many. That's not a coincidence and many have had pancreatitis also.